Title: Design of a generic product and process development system – a hybrid case-based reasoning approach

Authors: K.L. Choy, C.K. Choi, H.K.H. Chow, J.S.K. Chan, A.Y.K. Yam

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. ' Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. ' Hasbro Fast East Limited, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Abstract: During the New Product Development (NPD) cycle, it is important to focus and integrate relevant information into the stages of product conceptualisation, design and development so that they can be used for product and process design effectively. In this paper, a Generic Product and Process Development System (GPDS), which integrates knowledge-based technologies of Rule-Based Expert System (RBES) and Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), is proposed to facilitate product and process development. Although RBES is adopted for sorting product design criteria, relevant past cases are retrieved by the CBR system during product and process design stages. In doing so, previous knowledge in terms of rules and past practices will be made use of during the product and process design stages, resulting in an enhancement of the efficiency of design and operations. By applying GPDS in Hasbro Fast East Limited, the new product design life cycle is greatly shortened with significant reduction in the total development cost.

Keywords: case-based reasoning; CBR: new product development; NPD; process development; rule-based expert systems; product design; design life cycle.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2007.012498

International Journal of Product Development, 2007 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.310 - 329

Published online: 19 Feb 2007 *

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